Fast Comes Marriage!
by lilkawa
Summary: Mary and Matthew have to marry
1. Chapter 1

Downton Abbey doesn't belong to me

Fast Comes Marriage!

Matthew Crawley heard a noise and woke up from a not-so-sound sleep. Matthew never slept well when he wasn't in his own bed so one had to wonder why he had let himself to be persuaded to stay the night at Downton Abbey instead of going home.

He didn't have to think about why he had stayed. Mary, it was always about her these days.

She had ignored him the whole evening talking instead to Pamuk but being the glutton for punishment that he was, he'd elected to stay the night and endure more torture.

_Thud._

There was that noise again.

Matthew pulled on his night gown and walked cautiously to the door. He listened through it and thought that he heard voices, female voices to be exact and unless he was very much mistaken one of them sounded just like Mary's.

'Stop dreaming about her,' he told himself.

He opened his door slowly and there in front it stood Anna, Mary and Lady Grantham; they were carrying the Turkish gentleman, Pamuk, between them.

"What - ?" he began only to be sshhed by Mary. 'What was going?' he wondered as he helped them carry Pamuk to his room. They settled Pamuk in his bed and Anna after being thanked profusely by both Mary and her mother was the first to leave. Lady Grantham stood in the room for a while, looking as if her whole world had crumbled around her, and then she left looking close to tears.

Matthew tried again, "Mary is going on?" he asked his cousin. Mary appeared not to have heard him and Matthew sensing that he was unwelcome went back to his room.

He had barely entered his room when Mary walked in. "Thank you for helping us," she told him.

"Mary, what happened?" he asked again.

"Pamuk died." Matthew nodded; he had already seen that for himself. He waited for her to explain further.

"Pamuk was in my room with me when it happened. We were together - ," she paused looking at him.

"You were with him." It wasn't a question but a statement. Mary knew she had let everyone including herself down. Matthew had turned away from her, angry, how dare Pamuk go to his Mary's room in the middle of the night? The nerve of foreigners, Matthew felt sure that if Pamuk wasn't already dead he would have beaten him up and killed him.

Mary touched him on the shoulder and said, "Please. I'm sorry. Let me explain - ."

"Yes, explain. I would like to hear the explanation for this as well." Mary and Matthew turned.

Lord Grantham was standing in the doorway of Matthew's room. They hadn't heard him arrive. They looked at him in silence. Lord Grantham waited for a while, his disappointment with his daughter clearly showing on his face, and then he waved his hand.

"On the other hand," he told them, "there are no explanations necessary. Tomorrow, I will announce your engagement."

He pulled his daughter out of the room. "The wedding will take place in a month," he said, "Under the circumstances I don't think it would be wise to wait any longer than that."


	2. Chapter 2

Lord Grantham was sitting in his study attempting to finish some work. 'I really must get back to Cora,' he thought to himself, 'she must be wondering where I am.'

The whole inheritance business had become a nightmare. He didn't want to deprive Mary of what was hers by rights but neither could he see the estate divided; it deserved to remain intact – like it had been passed down to him - with all its money. Suddenly tired of all the work he had to do, Robert threw down his pen and closed the books he was trying to read and made for their bedroom.

He didn't know what led him there but somehow he found himself heading towards the male wing. As he was standing at the end of the corridor he saw Matthew head to his room, a few minutes later he saw Mary following Matthew. 'It can't be, my eyes are deceiving me,' he thought to himself and shook his head as if to clear it and then he decided to go and make sure that it wasn't Mary that he had seen following Matthew into his room.

This was worse than he had thought; not only was Mary in Matthew's room in her night gown no less, but she was apologizing to him. 'What was going on?' he asked them for an explanation but thought better of it. He wasn't sure he could handle the explanation; he didn't want to know what his darling Mary was doing in a man's room at night, alone and almost undressed.

He made a decision. Mary and Matthew would have to get married immediately for the sake of honour; they had to do this for the sake of the family. He pulled his daughter out of Matthew's room and led her to her room in silence. Mary was crying silently but her father didn't dare ask her what was wrong. At her door, she turned to her father and said, "I'm sorry daddy."

Lord Grantham felt his heart almost break, his darling Mary was hurting but he couldn't say a word to her. He didn't think he was strong enough to hear what she had been doing in Matthew's room.

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In their room, Robert found Cora in bed. She seemed to be fast asleep. He hated to wake her but he couldn't sleep without telling her what he had seen and what he had decided. Cora turned and looked at him.

"I'm announcing Mary's engagement to Matthew tomorrow."

"What?" Cora didn't have to pretend to be shocked. "When did they decide to get married?"

"I found Mary in Matthew's room this evening. There is no other choice, they have to get married. Her honour has been compromised."

Cora was silent wondering what her dear Robert would do if he discovered how much Mary's honour had been compromised and not by Matthew.

"They must have just been talking; there is no need to force them to marry."

"She was in his room, at night, alone and barely dressed. One of the servants may have seen her and you know how they like to talk. We can't have gossip like that being spread around about our daughter. No, they shall marry."

Cora looked at her husband and said, "Surely you want your daughter to marry a man that she loves and respects. You know how Mary is; she doesn't like to be forced into doing things."

"Then she should have kept out of Matthew's room. Anyway my dear," Robert told Cora, "You know the saying, f_irst comes love then marriage_. Well they certainly won't be the first couple to do it backwards. She can and will learn to love him in time. I have made my decision."

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Matthew couldn't believe what had just happened. One minute Mary was telling him about Pamuk, the next he was all but engaged to her.

Matthew loved Mary, he knew that with all his heart but he was angry and betrayed by her behavior. He loved Mary but he couldn't bare the sight of her. No, he had to find a way to convince Lord Grantham not to announce the engagement.

Yes, he couldn't marry Mary in his present state of mind and he was sure Mary didn't want to marry him either. Between the two of them they would have to find a way to convince Lord Grantham to drop his crazy idea.

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	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, one of the servants discovered the body of the Turkish gentleman which of course delayed Lord Grantham's announcement of Mary and Matthew's engagement. Taking care of the gentleman's body - having an autopsy carried out at the local coroner's office, to discover cause of death and making arrangements for transporting his body back to London took up Robert's entire morning.

By lunch time, Mary was able to breathe normally. Surely the business of Pamuk's death would, God forgive her, cure her father of any absurd notions of her and Matthew getting married.

Matthew thought the same as he left Downton Abbey to go back home.

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Matthew and Isobel were having afternoon tea when a message came from Downton Abbey; Lord Grantham had invited them to dine that evening.

"Mother, we can't always be dining at Downton Abbey," Matthew told her.

"We are not always dining at Downton Abbey," Isobel retorted.

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Mary was in her room getting ready for dinner, thankful that Matthew had left, when Cora walked into the room.

"Mary, how are you really?" Cora, asked her daughter. "We haven't had a chance to talk."

Mary smiled sadly at her mother, "I am as fine as can be expected."

They were silent for a while then Mary began to cry.

"I'm really sorry, mother; I never meant to let you down like that."

Cora had been angry with her eldest daughter, angry and very disappointed. A daughter of hers should have had more sense, but now as she looked at her little girl weeping, all she felt was sadness. Sadness and anger at herself, that she hadn't been able to prevent her daughter from going through all that, that she hadn't protected her.

Mother and daughter sat on Mary's bed, holding each other, crying together. They stayed like that for a while and then Cora took Mary's hands into her own.

"My dear, I came here to warn you."

"Warn me, about what?"

"Your father will not be shaken."

"What? You don't mean…?"

Cora nodded. "The engagement is to be announced, this evening."

"But surely, you can persuade him… mother, Matthew hates me and I don't blame him. We can't get married."

"I tried to dissuade your father but he has refused, the engagement is to be announced. I just thought you should know."

Cora left her daughter and went back to her room to wash her face and make herself presentable. Mary sat on her bed, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. She was being forced to marry a man, whom she loved, whom she would always love, but who would never love her.

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Four days after their engagement, Matthew and Mary were walking in the gardens. This was the first time since their engagement had been announced that Mary and Matthew were truly alone.

"Father says that we should be wed within the next two weeks." Mary told Matthew.

"I know," Matthew replied, "he said as much to me."

"I'm sorry," Mary said, "I should never have come to your room."

They continued walking in silence, each of them seemingly lost in thought.

'How is it possible to hate someone yet love them at the same time?' Matthew was thinking to himself. Sometimes he felt that he truly hated Mary, how could she have betrayed him like that. At the same time he loved her so much, which is why he was going through with this whole thing. For a chance to be with Mary, even though he knew she would never love him as he loved her.

Mary was thinking to herself how Matthew would never love her. She had had a chance with him, when he'd just come but she'd blown it. There was no way he could see her without seeing the stupid, easy and weak girl that she was.

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Sybil stood in the library window and watched Matthew and Mary walk in the gardens. There was something wrong, they ought to be happy, smiling but instead they were even stiffer when they were alone than when they were in company.

She decided to do something about it.

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Mary walked slowly back into the house, Matthew had finally left he had a meeting or so he said. She was sure he'd made the whole thing up to get away from her and she didn't blame him. She went to her room but she was too restless and after a while decided to go to the library and sit there. The library had a nice window seat in the back where she could sit in peace and think.

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"Cousin Matthew," Sybil called to him. "You're not leaving already, are you?"

"I was, actually," he replied, "some business in town."

"Okay," she said, "but before you go, if you could come with me. There are some matters, legal, that I would like you to help me with."

Matthew knew that he ought to decline but seeing as he really had nothing to do in town, decided to follow his cousin back to the house.

Sybil led him to the library and she told him that she would return shortly with her papers.

Matthew sat for about fifteen minutes until he decided to get up and go in search of Sybil. When he got to the door he realized that it was locked. He'd been locked in the library, but Sybil not doubt but why, what did she hope to gain.

He knocked and shouted but he was sure no one could hear him, and then decided to walk around the room. Lord Grantham's library was impressive; he made a note to visit it again soon.

He got to the back of the room and saw that there was someone lying in the window seat. The person's back was turned to him but he could bet a hundred pounds that it was Mary. His first thought was that Mary had used Sybil to get him into the library but that was quickly dismissed when Mary saw him and screamed. She was genuinely shocked.

"Matthew," she said, "what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Sybil," he replied, "she needed some legal advice. But now we seem to be locked in the library."

Mary had been walking towards the door while he spoke and when she turned the knob she realized that they were indeed locked in the room.

"I'm hungry," Mary said. "This is not funny."

Matthew looked at her and then noticed a side table that he hadn't looked at properly before. On it were two plates with sandwiches, a bottle of wine, two glasses and a bowl of fruit.

"I guess somebody knew that the two of us would be locked in here." Mary said.

Matthew began to laugh, this was becoming ridiculous.

"I'm going to kill Sybil when we get out," Mary said, pouring wine into the glasses and handing him one.

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At first Mary and Matthew talked about books, their favourite authors and the like.

"I really like Homer's Odyssey," Mary told him. "Penelope had no reason to hope but she never gave in to the suitors."

"I should have guessed you'd like it because of the woman." Matthew said laughing.

"Why not?" Mary asked him. "Odysseus wasn't bad, but Penelope was such a strong woman."

"I see you're a feminist like Sybil," Matthew said.

"And what's wrong with that?" Mary asked him.

"Nothing," Matthew replied, smiling.

Mary looked and him and said. "Matthew, I'm sorry."

"You didn't lock us in the library," Matthew said. He knew she wasn't talking about that, but decided to feign ignorance.

"You know that's not what I am talking about," Mary told him.

"I know, Mary, I know."

"I should never have come to your room," Mary said. "I should have gone back to my bed."

"I'm glad you came to my room," Matthew told her.

"Why?"

"You came to give me an explanation, when you didn't owe me any."

"And that makes you glad?" Mary asked him.

"Yes," he smiled at her, and reached out to touch her cheek, "and it gave me hope."

His touch sent thrills down her spine, his nearness was intoxicating.

"Hope? What are you talking about?"

"That you cared for me." He explained, "I know you Mary, you play by your own rules and you didn't need to give me an explanation, yet many times since then you have even apologised for your behaviour. You have tried to ease the pain you know you caused me."

Mary was looking at him in wonder.

"You have tried to come up with ways to break off the engagement," he smiled at her, "because to use your own words, 'I deserve someone better than you', as if I would want someone else."

"Matthew, what are you saying?" Mary asked him.

"I love you, Mary Crawley; I've loved since I first saw you."

"Oh Matthew," Mary said.

"I know you don't feel the same way." Matthew told her. "You care about me, but you don't love me."

Mary reached out and touched his cheek.

"It's good to know that there are some things you don't know," Mary told him.

"What are you saying, Mary?"

Mary reached out to touch his cheek, smiling at him.

The door of the library opened and Lord Grantham walked in. He looked at them and smiled thinly, "it's a good thing you're getting married soon. Otherwise such behaviour would really cause a scandal."


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you think about this one?" Mary asked her mother. Cora shook her head and picked out another dress instead.

Now that Mary was ready to marry Matthew everything was moving very fast. The church had been booked, the menus discussed and the wedding invitations sent out.

Mary, Cora, Edith and Sybil were in London, where Mary was trying on wedding dresses.

Mary tried on the dress had Cora pointed out. It was an ivory dress with long sleeves, an intricate but beautiful pattern on its fitted skirt, a high collar and it had fifty buttons, the shop owner was very proud of it.

"Try it on," the owner said. "My daughter designed it, and sewed on all the details by hand. I think it will go very well with your colouring."

Mary tried it on. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought that she really looked great; she couldn't wait to see the look on Matthew's face when she walked down the aisle.

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Matthew nearly had a heart attack when he saw Mary walk the aisle with her father. Her dress was amazing and he couldn't wait to get her out of it, but even more amazing than her dress was the smile that she was wearing.

She was looking directly at him, walking down the aisle to him. He didn't think he'd ever seen such a beautiful sight in his life.

Mary walked down the aisle, smiling, happy; everyone could see that she really wanted to get married to the man waiting for her.

The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch, Cora and Violet had cried in the church, even Robert had looked a bit sad, the food had been great and the weather perfect, and pretty soon, Mary and Matthew were alone in the cottage where they were going to spend their two week honeymoon. Edith and Sybil had been her bridesmaids and they had looked great in their dresses.

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Mary was standing in the bathroom attempting to get out of her wedding dress with little success. The buttons were all at the back and she couldn't reach them.

The easiest thing would be to get Matthew to help her but she was feeling shy.

'Get over it,' she told herself. 'You're now married to him, and you did want to marry him.' Still she couldn't let herself ask for his help, and she'd already refused it when he'd offered.

She stood in the bathroom for five more minutes and then walked out. Matthew was surprised to see that she was still in the wedding dress.

"I hope this doesn't sound too forward," he said, smiling, "but I hoped that you would come out of there dressed in something else."

Mary looked at him, "You mean you're tired of seeing me in this dress, already?"

He shook his head.

"Good, because I don't think I'm ever taking it off."

He nodded as though it made perfect sense.

"You need help, don't you?" he asked her.

"If you would be so kind, husband dearest."

He stood up and took her into his arms and kissed her. "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today?"

"You may have mentioned it once or ten times."

"I'll say it again then, Mrs. Crawley. You looked and still look very beautiful. I love you Mary Crawley."

"I know."

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Later that night, Mary and Matthew lay in their bed, nestled in each other's arms. Mary's head was on his chest while she slept. He looked at his wife for a while then fell asleep as well, a smile on his face.

It was good thing Mary decided to walk into my room that night was his last thought before he drifted off, who knows how long we'd have taken to get here if she hadn't.

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End file.
